Institute Partners on Green Sports Alliance Summit

Learn how to make stadiums and arenas high-performing at the upcoming Green Sports Alliance Summit, to be held June 27-29 in Sacramento, California, at the Golden 1 Center, home of the Sacramento Kings. With the theme “PLAY GREENER™: Engaging Fans, Athletes & Communities,” the Summit will focus on bringing about positive environmental and social impact across the fan base and surrounding communities. Sessions will prepare green sports stakeholders to leverage their influence by collaborating with athletes and engaging fans and communities inside and outside of sports venues to create measurable and lasting change. The National Institute of Building Sciences is a community partner for the event.

Earlier this year, the Institute and the Green Sports Alliance released a report that looks at ways the nation’s sports venues can make an impact by reducing their energy and water use. The report, Taking the Field: Advancing Energy and Water Efficiency in Sports Venues, considers the potential water and energy reductions the U.S. sports sector could make, and highlights the financial savings some leagues and teams are already seeing from putting such efficiency initiatives into place. The Institute’s Presidential Advisor and Director of its Consultative Council, Ryan M. Colker, JD, will moderate a session that builds on those findings entitled “Make it Last: Sustainable Solutions for Existing Venues.”

While new, innovative stadiums and arenas open each year, many sports venues tend to be older, less modern structures that require consistent upkeep and maintenance. Through the lens of sustainability, sports venue operators are developing strategies that enable them to “tune up” their stadium or arena in ways that encourage innovation, promote efficiency and preserve traditions.

During the Thursday, June 29 session, attendees will learn how existing venues ranging from more than one hundred years old to less than a decade are finding sustainable solutions to modernize venue operations. Speakers will highlight the obstacles they overcame, ranging from limited capital to challenging infrastructure, and the strategies used to achieve greater sustainability success. Join operators and partners from Wrigley Field, KeyArena, American Airlines Arena and Citi Field to learn more.